Taproom: Heartwork Brewing (Bloomington, IN)

This was the one thing I really wanted to do while we were in Bloomington for a couple of days to ourselves this week; and oddly enough, it would up probably being the highlight of the trip. (It was, once again, too fucking hot and humid to do much outside—this has been the refrain for far too many of our recent trips to Bloomington, whether just for the day or for a “three-day weekend"—so we went for as much A/C as possible.) Amy got wrapped up in the soccer game on TV, I made notes on the three beers I tried—and we both ogled the pizzas that pretty much everyone else in attendance yesterday partook of but us. They don’t have much to drink for non-beer people, but we both thought the pizzas looked really good, so I’m pretty sure I can squeeze one more trip here out of her.

638. Heartwork Brewing (Bloomington, IN) - ENS Hazy IPA
“Our newest hazy! Featuring Nelson Sauvin and El Dorado hops. Notes of lychee, berry, and pear. Cheers!”
Very bitter up front and all the way through to the back end, for most of the beer. It softens a very small amount as it warms, but I don’t get any berry or pear (and I have no idea what lychee tastes like). I thought of grapefruit pith, but it didn’t have the flavor of grapefruit at all—just the bitterness you’d get from the pith. It’s also very hazy, which I usually associate with East Coast IPAs that tend to be on the sweet side and taste of stone fruit; but other than the haze, it has nothing in common with that style, either. And yet…oddly compelling. Thought about getting this for the crowler I was going to take home, but it wasn’t quite interesting enough (and their crowlers are too expensive). Doesn’t tell you whether I liked it or not, does it? Probably because I’m not sure myself.

639. Heartwork Brewing (Bloomington, IN) - South Hall
“Session IPA, Brewed for the Little 500 Race.”
The menu board above the bar said something about stone fruit, but to whatever degree these cats excel in brewing beer and making pizza, they do not also excel in advertising and using words to make the rest of the world want to try their beers. This one (4.8% ABV) is clearly a session (and not in a good way)—there is almost no body or flavor up front—but there is a hint of a dry (or possibly bitter) finish on the back end. As it warms, though, the stone fruit opens up—more so than whatever the hell is animating the ENS Hazy. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to push this into the ring with the interesting beers. Seems to have been a mistake to cast this one as a session; the flavor profile this one hints at would have worked much better at a higher ABV.

640. Heartwork Brewing (Bloomington, IN) - Czech Pilsner
“This lager is made exclusively with Czech Saaz hops, lending to the distinguishable biscuity malt flavors. These Bohemian styles are higher in gravity and darker in color than their German counterparts. Compared to our own German Pilsner, this Czech is sweeter, maltier, and has a richer, fuller body. Smooth, creamy textures and highly drinkable.”
They tapped this from a LUKR side-pull, which I don’t know…well…anything about. Is it possible that the fancy pour had something to do with why I thought it was the best of the three beers I tried while I was there yesterday? I have no idea. It was sweet up front and dry (but not bitter, like the other two) on the back end. There’s also something floral or herbal (and pleasant) on the nose and up front that I could not quite place; and I thought I got a hint of honey as the beer warmed. This is the one got a crowler of to take home, to I may update this part of the post. Of the three I tried yesterday, this was both the most interesting and the one that I liked the most.

Taproom: Metal Works Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN) - UPDATED

I’ve been on the fence about this place ever since Function Brewing announced that they were selling their business to the Bloomington-based Endeavor Hospitality Group. Function’s posts on the social-media-website-that-shall-not-be-named are lost to history, but my recollection is that they sold to Endeavor because Endevaor said they would keep to the spirit of what Function had been doing. If Endeavor did make that claim, they have not stuck to it; they acquired a space that was already built out as a brewery and a restaurant, they slapped their own theme on it, and they bid the former tenants adieu.

You may have noticed that something similar seems to have happened with the Scarlet Lane Irvington location, which has yet to tap a single keg of their versions of either Natural Liberty or Saucy Intruder. They ran through the Natural Liberty that was left when Black Acre closed (which was a lot); and the Drinks menu on the Irvington page [accessed 7/16/23] claims that Saucy Intruder is “Coming Soon”—but that page has been making that claim for some time. (And yet, they’ve still managed to tap a number of kegs of their own stuff, despite what they claim to be grain supply shortages—which no other brewer that I am aware of has been complaining about—and a general amount of falling behind on production that they blame on “unplanned construction.”)

561. Metal Works Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN) - The Welder
“Crisp American-style IPA with Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, and Amarillo hops.”
But I digress. I finally decided to give Metal Works Brewing Company, which is what assimilated Function Brewing, a try while we were in Bloomington this weekend. And I went into it with an open mind…I swear to Darwin that I did…but it just didn’t work for me. We got into town late Thursday afternoon, checked in at the hotel, and then headed downtown. Amy had a glass of wine from their meager selection, and I had this American-style IPA, which was lightly carbonated and had some kind of vague fruit flavor that eventually sort of resolved into something that might have been a shadow of amaretto. This was followed by a slightly bitter finish that smoothed out as the beer warmed. Not impressive.

562. Metal Works Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN) - Scrapyard
“The mosaic [sic] hops shine hazely [sic] in this light take on a NEIPA. Light, easy drinking, with a low bitterness profile. Hops contribute to the flavor and appearance, but not to the bitterness.”
Um. This one was also lightly carbonated, but had very nice peach notes that lingered quite awhile on the back end. It also has a smooth finish that is, oddly, both sweet and dry. Not bad…but I hope this low carbonation thing doesn’t become a theme here.

563. Metal Works Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN) - Journeyman Session IPA
“Rotating single hopped session IPA.”
Sessions tend to be light on both flavor and alcohol, but the former is not the case here. The 4.5% ABV fits the session profile, but the prominent tropical fruit flavor and the pleasantly bitter finish are both unusually strong for the style. Easily the best of the three beers I tried at Metal Works this past weekend.

Taproom: Rockpit Brewing (Orlando, FL)

So last week we finally got to take our trip to Universal Studios Orlando that we had originally planned for spring break in 2020. Also planned for that vacation was a side trip to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Crystal River. It rained the day we drove from Orlando to Crystal River, so we got the chance to visit one of the Orlando breweries I had looked up before the trip. This is an all-ages taproom with food from a barbecue joint next door.

451. Rockpit Brewing (Orlando, FL) - HIBU: Belma (Polarized Series)
“West Coast India Pale Ale with notes of currant and tropical fruit with a high level of bitterness.”
There is a pleasantly bitter finish to this beer, and sometimes it lingers—but sometimes not. The one I had in the taproom had more of a pronounced bitter finish. This one, out of their 16oz crowler can, is less persistent. I didn’t get much in the way of fruit flavor from either one of them.

452. Rockpit Brewing (Orlando, FL) - Cackler
“Medium-light in body with crisp, clean upfront bitterness. You’ll want to take time to savor the strong tropical and citrus notes that are prevalent in this all-american [sic] IPA.”
A little bit more fruity than the HIBU: Belma, but not a lot. Both are very easy drinking considering their respective ABVs (6.6% for HIBU: Belma and 7.0% for Cackler).

453. Rockpit Brewing (Orlando, FL) - LOBU: Belma (Polarized Series)
“New England India Pale Ale with notes of tropical fruit, melon and strawberry.”
More fruit forward up front than its West Coast cousin, but no specific flavors—maybe stone fruit or melon. The finish is bitter, but much lighter than the HIBU, and it doesn’t linger.